FROM INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
A new penal code, applicable to both Indonesian nationals and foreigners, will take effect in January.
Part of this new code consists of updated blasphemy regulations.
Indonesia has had a blasphemy law since 1965.
Multiple attempts have been made — including one by a former Indonesian president — to remove it from the nation’s legal code.
But the blasphemy law has proven a resilient survivor.
NO OFFICIAL STATE RELIGION IN INDONESIA
With more than 285 million people, Indonesia is the world’s largest majority-Muslim country.
But despite Muslims comprising more than 85% of the population, there is no official state religion.
It is officially a secular state.
Indonesia’s constitution has provisions intended to safeguard freedom for six religions, including Protestantism and Catholicism.
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE VARIES ACROSS 38 PROVINCES
Indonesia has received praise for maintaining a religiously diverse society.
However, its 38 provinces can vary heavily in their degree of extremism and willingness to act on it.
“There are several notorious provinces where church closings and attacks happen more frequently,” said ‘Andreas’, an Indonesian Christian whose name has been changed to protect his identity.
He added that one reason behind such hostility is “the fear of Christianity,” which saw significant growth in Indonesia during the second half of the previous century.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
As the 21st century arrived, Indonesia saw an increase in the frequency of lethal religiously-motivated attacks, including church bombings.
During the last decade, however, Indonesia has seen somewhat of a decline in religiously based violence.
Andreas credited the former president, Joko Widodo, who served from 2014 to 2024, with having made some relevant improvements.
Under his oversight, Indonesian authorities successfully disbanded such extremist groups as the Islamic Defenders Front.
But their ideology lives on.
BACKGROUND OF BLASPHEMY OFFENCES
So does the presence of a blasphemy law, which has been used to target members of its sizeable Christian minority — roughly 11% of the total population.
One notable example involved a former governor of the capital city of Jakarta, who was the first Christian to hold the position in more than half a century.
He received a two-year prison sentence for blasphemy offences in a case that many saw as politically motivated.
Some of these “blasphemy” cases seem petty to an absurd degree, even though the consequences can be serious.
In 2019, a Buddhist woman was convicted of blasphemy for complaining about the noise level of loudspeakers at a local mosque.
Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld her 18-month jail sentence.
UPDATED LAW WILL EXPAND BLASPHEMY CODE
The updated law will expand the blasphemy code from one to six articles.
The new blasphemy regulations will also recognise “any living law” — a vaguely-worded provision that intolerant or exploitative local officials could quite easily abuse, especially in locations that have extremist sympathies.
And yet the issue seems off the radar of many Indonesian Christians.
Father Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Catholic Jesuit priest in Jakarta, admitted he had forgotten about the new blasphemy law and that he had never discussed the matter with other priests.
“MOST INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS ARE UNAWARE OF NEW BLASPHEMY LAWS”
From what he can determine, the majority of Indonesian Christians don’t know anything about it.
Most Indonesian Christians only know about famous blasphemy cases, like the one involving the Christian ex-governor of Jakarta, Andreas said.
He is not sure exactly who is pushing for these updated blasphemy regulations.
He added that the current blasphemy law has already seen several judicial reviews, and “human rights organisations are always critical of it.”
“UPDATED LAWS A RESPONSE TO NEW DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT”
Andreas believes the blasphemy law was updated “because of the new digital environment” and ubiquitous social media.
He acknowledged there is some need to regulate hate speech on social media, as such content “can easily go viral and potentially harm inter-religious relations.”
At the same time, he said that parts of the updated law “are still open to interpretations that favour the majority religion.”
Father Magnis said he is not concerned that the updated law will make it easy for extremists to use blasphemy accusations as a weapon, like in Pakistan.
“INDONESIANS UNLIKELY TO ABUSE BLASPHEMY LAWS LIKE IN PAKISTAN”
“The situation here is very different,” he asserted, adding that people in Pakistan are far more likely to unleash a blasphemy accusation.
“I do not see a high level of persecution of Christians in Indonesia,” he continued.
“We now have excellent relations with the two big Muslim civil society organisations [Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah], which help us to resolve conflicts.”
Father Magnis acknowledged that “cases of intolerance” continue in places where Christians are a small minority.
U.S. COMMISSION HAS MORE CRITICAL VIEW OF BLASPHEMY LAWS
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) takes a more critical view of Indonesia for several reasons, including its blasphemy laws.
In fact, the USCIRF 2025 annual report recommended that Indonesia appear on a Special Watch List of countries that either partake in, or tolerate, severe violations of religious freedom.
Andreas observed: “We still need to see whether the new regulations will bring a positive or negative impact to Indonesian society.”
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